School: Ball Áluinn (Balla) (roll number 1146)

Location:
Balla, Co. Mayo
Teacher:
P. Ó Maolanaigh
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0095, Page 210

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0095, Page 210

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  1. XML School: Ball Áluinn (Balla)
  2. XML Page 210
  3. XML “Famine Times”

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  1. In this district the famine came and the people suffered very much. The old people everywhere heard their grandfathers tell of the sufferings of the people. The blight came one day and the big stalks got black and withered in field after field in one day. The potatoes got soft and rotten straight away. They were unfit to eat after that day. Some people had meal enough for themselves but others had not. From the villages around the people flocked into the town. Some died on the way in. In Walshes in Craggagh there were sacks of meal in the kitchen stacked up to the roof. People used to come for meal to there to buy it or beg it if they had no money. Two men died there one after getting some meal and milk, the other was dead just when he reached the garden. Both were buried beside a beech tree which is still pointed out.
    People ate rabbits, birds and hares. Some even ate docks and weeds and raw turnips. The people before this were fairly comfortable around Balla. The landlord was friendly and they were able to pay the rents by selling oats. They also set some wheat, kept some pigs, cattle and sheep. After the first year of the famine all these were gone and very little relief came
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. time
      1. historical periods by name (~25)
        1. the great famine (~4,013)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    P. Ó Maolanaigh
    Gender
    Male